Tools of the Trade: The Cooldown

Sep 12, 2012

The Science of Running is a great resource for runners and coaches, check out University of Houston XC assistant and former Oregon Project coach Steve Magness's blog

His latest topic examines the cooldown, good read and interesting points on the run any competitive runner is familiar with, check out his thoughts.

The Cool down- what does it do?

I’ve contemplated for a while writing about the role and function of cooling down after a workout or race, but never I have never fully been able to put all the pieces together to do so. The cool down seems like such a normal/given thing. It’s a rite of passage to be able to be done for the day. It’s so ingrained that no one asks the question why anymore.

Why?

Let’s first look at the traditional viewpoint of the cool down. If we were to ask what a cool down is used for most answers would relate to bringing your body back to normal. You’d get answers like to get rid of lactic acid or waste products, to slowly bring muscle temperature down, to gradually reduce Heart Rate (HR), and all sorts of other related answers.

But do these things matter? Lactate is cleared within 30-60min anyways, so maybe a cool down speeds it up to 15-20min, but that’s not a big deal because lactate is not evil. Muscle temperature and core body temperature would drop quicker by just standing around, as would heart rate. On the contrary a cool down would keep blood flow elevated for longer, so perhaps transport of “stuff” would be enhanced. But the truth is. We have no idea why the cool down actually physiologically does anything.

Is this another case of being overrated like stretching?

Everyone in the world uses a cool down post workout whether it is HS, college, or Pro’s so there has to be a reason or benefit. Unlike stretching (which people who were keenly aware just kind of stopped doing) there’s never been a movement to stop cooling down. That to me, and the fact that empirical evidence from coaches all over supports the use of one, lends credence to the idea that cooling down is in fact a good thing. My contention though, is we’ve been asking the wrong question when trying to figure out what a cool down does in the running world.

What else do you need to know?

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